Kim and Karen
Left to right: Kim and Karen
By Kim, a Sister Study participant from Maryland
I joined the Sister Study in 2004 at the invitation of my sister, Karen Eubanks Jackson, Founder and CEO of Sisters Network, Inc. I honor Karen as well as my mother and her two sisters who lost their lives to breast cancer.
Even though Karen and I are 16 years apart, we were raised in a love-filled family and were very close. As the oldest girl in the family, Karen has always been a wealth of knowledge and inspiration. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993, she vowed that she would do everything humanly possible so that this disease would not consume her life. Instead of looking at the negative side of her diagnosis, she was determined to find out as much information as she could to save not only her own life, but the lives of others as well.
The next year (1994) she founded Sisters Network, Inc., the only national African American breast cancer survivorship organization in the United States which promotes the importance of breast health education, support, advocacy, and research. She has always inspired me to do my part to contribute and participate in breast health awareness and breast cancer research.
Sisters Network, Inc. became an official partner of the Sister Study in 2003. The national slogan of Sisters Network, “Stop the Silence,” is so appropriate. We need to spread the word about the importance of breast health education and breast cancer awareness and research!
I believe it is essential that women participate in studies such as the Sister Study until breast cancer can be prevented and the lives of women from all backgrounds can be saved.